I love having that chair next to my bed. It’s a little big for the space, but it’s such a comfortable place to plop down and rest.
What? You don’t see a chair?
Right. I guess that’s a problem.
Having a chair is great, but if it’s just the base of a mountain of randomness, I don’t get to enjoy it much at all.
While my master bedroom is once again overwhelming, I took about 20 minutes last week to unearth my beloved chair.
I found:
1. Plaid boys’ shorts that I have been informed will NEVER be worn by anyone who lives in this house. (Hmmmph.)
2. Clothes that should be hanging in the closet. I’m *guessing* I once-upon-a-time placed the shirt flat on top of the pile to keep it from wrinkling. I’m sure it was only going to be there for a moment.
3. Shorts that I’m tired of finagling so I can wear them with a missing button. I donated them. (My local donation place wants imperfect clothes!)
4. A top I know I wore recently, but that was WAAAYYYY down into the pile . . .
5. A diving stick that didn’t pass the one year test.
6. Various outgrown clothes and office supplies. (Because those things always end up together, right?)
7. A broken purse. I took about sixteen seconds to clean it out since a dread of cleaning it out was the reason I hadn’t gotten rid of it yet.
Finally, the chair was empty:
Please ignore the clutter at the bottom of the picture. I only said I was decluttering the CHAIR, OK?
Immediately, I sat down to enjoy my reclaimed comfy space, and saw this:
Two things in that picture make me very happy. One overwhelms me with the realization I have SOOOO much more to do in there.
P.S. I once thought I’d never let a dog on my bed. But seriously, who could resist that face??
--Nony
Camara says
Congrats on unearthing the chair! It looks comfy for sure. Speaking of bedrooms, I really should put away some laundry…
Your daughter is lovely, and my family used to have a dog, too, when I was a child. My parents were firmly in the no-dogs-on-the-bed party, but our dog only needed one day to convince them otherwise. 🙂
Kayla @ Shoeaholicnomore says
Just a thought Nony, not trying to criticize, but maybe you should relocate the chair to somewhere else in your room or in your home. If you relocate the chair and thereby eliminate your dumping ground, maybe you’ll be forced to take care of things instead of letting them pile up. Again, not trying to be-little you, your advice, or your actions. Believe me, I have plenty of “problem areas” like that chair seems to be for you. 🙂
Dana White says
I’m “pretty” sure I would just dump stuff on the floor, but you’re probably right. I’ve eliminated other dumping grounds and been glad I did!!
KellyJMF says
Certain objects need a zero tolerance policy because once you put one tiny thing on it, just for a minute, it rapidly becomes buried in whatnot. I’m looking at you, ironing board that I didn’t put away immediately because the iron was cooling and can’t put away now either because of all the homeless objects piled on it.
Erica says
Great job! I unearthed a chair in the master bedroom last week too, and actually tackled quite a few areas. A couple bags of trash and donations gone! My little boys are loving the chair, and I’m using it too. So… The pile is now starting next to the chair. :P. I need to stay on that, but I guess it goes to show that until you address hot spot behavior it will happen no matter the surface.
Penelope says
My dumping place is a laundry basket with a broken clock in it (it fell off the wall, but I’m not ready to part with it yet) that I throw my clothes on as I take them off….oh, and occassionally put my folded clothes on to empty a basket so the housekeeper can fold another batch (she comes every 2 weeks!)
Glad you found your chair!
jerseygirl says
I can so relate! While I totally understand the comment about moving the chair so it doesn’t accumulate clutter – neither DH or I have one next to our side of the bed – so of course we adapted by putting everything in piles on the floor instead … 🙁 However, I am hoping that strategy works with the table that lives in our eat-in kitchen – I don’t think we’ve used it 3x in the 5+ years we’ve had it – it only collects food containers and assorted papers. I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t leave those the floor if the table wasn’t there! We have a dining room table that’s covered in “stuff” (sigh) so we don’t really need the eat-in one – IF we could get the dining room in shape… Needless to say, we usually eat in the living room in front of the TV…
Kristy K. James says
Nice chair! But we probably all have similar issues. My desk should just be my work area, but half of it is covered with supplements. Out of sight means out of mind, so if I don’t keep them in front of my face, I forget them. Same thing with the gluten-free snacks on the top shelf. I forget to eat, so I keep some out here so when I feel like I’m going to crash, I can have something. However, I do that while I’m working, so I grab a box of something, snack and work, and the box is on top of the supplements – along with my Kindle, a few notebooks, a candle, makeup mirror, two monitors and a printer. Sad thing is, I don’t work well in chaos….
Jennifer says
my dumping ground is the broken rocking chair in the livingroom that i have fantasies of fixing and re-upholstering. although it is kind of hard to do either of those things when it has a carseat, a baby jungle gym, two backpacks, two diaper bags and five sweaters on it. (i’m not sure what it says that i know the exact inventory of it WITHOUT decluttering it.)
Red says
Oh goodness the more I read your site the more I feel hope for my home. Its so refreshing to see that Im not alone! I recently spent an entire day on my master bedroom. That included straight up throwing away a TON of my own stuff just cause I was tired of dealing with it. Now I cant even get to my closet again. I know I need to go in there and fix it but I just cant find the energy or the willpower because I know that as soon as it looks decent Ill come back the next night and it will be a crime scene again.
Kip says
I love you.
Robyn says
I could show you my bedsidE. But sticky for you, I Can’t load.
Julie in the UK says
Your boys won’t wear plaid shorts? So I’m guessing that they’re not between the ages of 2 and 5 and don’t live in the 1950s.
Dana White says
Exactly.